Living Out Of Country And Keeping BC Healthcare

[my5cents]

From the MSP website

Studying Outside British Columbia

If you leave B.C. temporarily to attend school or university, you may be eligible for MSP coverage for the duration of your studies, provided you are in full-time attendance at a recognized educational facility.
Beneficiaries who have been studying outside B.C. must return to the province by the end of the month following the month in which studies are completed. If you do not plan to return to B.C. within that timeframe, contact Health Insurance BC to discuss your situation.

I would think that in the case mentioned in the original post, that they would be covered.

Yes, however, the original post closed with :

.........How many Canadians live elsewhere and keep paying for BC Health care and then come back when sick? I would not suggest not helping them but unless they did apply for an exception to live out of province they are breaking the law and could be billed for the health care.

I bring this up because this person admitted matter of fact that she did that. What are your thoughts on this? Am I wrong and it is not against the law? I hope so because I would love to keep my health care and live elsewhere for a year or two.

You are correct, if a student does all they are supposed to do, including, not travelling outside of Canada to "unwind" after school, they likely would be covered.

As you can see the original post went on to pose the situation that they'd like to "keep my health care and live elsewhere for a year or two".

Has anyone noticed that we are all discussing this topic as though the people who are abusing the MSP system are defrauding a big private company ? MSP is us.

The wonderful thing about our system is, that even if we left for years, once we take up residency in BC and go through the waiting period we have full coverage again. No questions about pre-existing conditions.